AMR in Merger Should Lose All Washington Slots: Jetblue

Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- AMR Corp.’s American Airlines
should have to cede the equivalent of all its flights at
Washington’s Reagan National Airport if the planned merger with
US Airways Group Inc. goes forward, JetBlue Airways Corp.’s
chief executive officer said.

US Airways has 55 percent of flights at the airport near
the city’s downtown, and no carrier should be allowed to exceed
that figure, CEO Dave Barger said today in an interview in
Washington.

“That should be the ceiling,” Barger said after speaking
to a U.S. National Transportation Safety Board forum. “We feel
very strongly.”

The CEO’s comments were the most specific yet about the
merger from New York-based JetBlue, which competes against US
Airways and American at Reagan National. The U.S. Justice
Department has sued to block the merger as anti-competitive,
saying a combined carrier would control 69 percent of flights at
the airport, where capacity is restricted by U.S. regulators.

Barger, 55, and other JetBlue officials previously called
for a combined American-US Airways to give up an unspecified
number of flights in Washington. US Airways and American
executives have said that there is enough competition in the
region because travelers can use two other airports.

US Airways, the fifth-largest U.S. airline, went to 55
percent of flight slots at Reagan National in 2011 from 44
percent in a trade that let Delta Air Lines Inc. grow at New
York’s LaGuardia airport. Fort Worth, Texas-based American, the
third-biggest U.S. carrier, is restructuring in bankruptcy.

The 2011 accord allowing expansion by Tempe, Arizona-based
US Airways at Reagan National should be the benchmark for what
should be permitted in any merger negotiations, Barger said.

Barger, who has said he doesn’t oppose the merger outright,
declined to speculate on whether the U.S. will reach a
negotiated settlement allowing the two carriers to combine.